Epic day for Northern Ireland

Well well well, what do we have here? Belfast has been the stage for a momentous occasion which will now go down in history as a landmark step for Britain and Ireland. HRH Queen Elizabeth arrived in Northern Ireland today along with her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh initially to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee with a garden party at Stormont Parliament Buildings. Prior to this, however, came the astonishing meeting of the Queen and none other than that of Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, who is also the Deputy First Minister of the country. They shook hands for the first time in which by many can only be seen as a gesture of healing. Healing for all the bloodshed and lives destroyed during The Troubles which lasted for over thirty years.
If you had asked whether this meeting would of occurred even ten years ago, people would of laughed at you. Martin McGuinness was a former IRA commander, who was a major player in the war against the British for the land of Ireland. It went as far and as personal as the terrorist organisation murdering the Queens cousin, Lord Mountbatten in 1979. As the Queen is head of the British armed forces - who were sent into Northern Ireland during The Troubles - many thought it would be too raw a deal for both parties to even be in the same county let alone the same room, shaking hands.

It has happened though, of course there has and will be the inevitable backlash from the republican nationalists who believe that McGuinness is a traitor to 'the cause' and still despise the Monarchy and all  it represents. Yes McGuinness has blood on his hands, even Royal blood, but this can only be taken as a positive step in the future for Northern Ireland. So much more needs to be done to secure a decent, healthy future for the coming generations of the country. What good is it going to do to keep rehashing the same nonsense over and over again? To poison our children's minds with the same toxins that have infiltrated yours? Lets be honest, do we want NI to end up like Israel? Before The Troubles, NI was the third fastest growing economy in Europe. That statistic can only be looked upon with sorrow for what the country could of been.

We need the hatred to stop, we need the bitterness to stop, we need change.

Below is the video of the meeting.

(video via YouTube )

* If you watch the video on YouTube, you will see the comments underneath which do sadden me as people still don't get it. There is far too much hatred in the world.